War of the Second Coalition
The War of the Second Coalition (1798–1802) was the second war on by most of the European monarchies, led by Britain, Austria and Russia, and including the Ottoman Empire, Portugal, Naples, various German monarchies and Sweden, though Prussia did not join this coalition and Spain supported France. Their goal was to contain the expansion of the French Republic and to restore the monarchy in France. They failed to overthrow the revolutionary regime and French territorial gains since 1793 were confirmed. In the in 1801, France held all of its previous gains and obtained new lands in Tuscany, Italy, while Austria was granted Venetia and the Dalmatian coast. Britain and France signed the in March 1802, bringing an interval of peace in Europe that lasted for 14 months. By May 1803 Britain and France were again at war and in 1805 Britain assembled the to resume the war against France. Background On 20 April 1792, the declared war on Austria. In the (1792–97), France fought against most of the states with which it shared a border, as well as Great Britain, Portugal and the . Although the Coalition forces achieved several victories at the outset of the war, they were ultimately repulsed from French territory and then lost significant territories to the French, who began to set up in their occupied territories. The efforts of in the northern pushed Austrian forces back and resulted in the negotiation of the (18 April 1797) and the subsequent (October 1797). leaving Britain to fight on alone and marking the end of the coalition. In the summer of 1798, Bonaparte led an , where his army was trapped and which, after he returned to France, surrendered. Meanwhile, during his absence from Europe, the outbreak of violence in drew French support against the old . When revolutionaries overthrew the cantonal government in , the French invaded, ostensibly to support the Swiss Republicans. In northern Italy, Russian general won , driving the French under out of the , forcing them back on the and the coast around . However, the Russian armies in the were defeated by French commander , and Suvorov eventually withdrew. Ultimately the Russians left the Coalition when insisted on the right to search all vessels it stopped at sea. In Germany, Archduke Charles of Austria drove the French under Jean-Baptiste Jourdan back across the and won several victories in Switzerland. Jourdan was replaced by Massena, who then combined the Armies of the Danube and Helvetia. Peace interrupted From October 1797 until March 1799 France and Austria, the signatories of the Treaty of Campo Formio, avoided armed conflict but remained suspicious of each other and several diplomatic incidents undermined the agreement. The French demanded additional territory not mentioned in the Treaty. The Habsburgs were reluctant to hand over designated territories, much less additional ones. The proved inept at orchestrating the transfer of territories to compensate the German princes for their losses. refused to pay tribute to France, followed by the Neapolitan rebellion and the subsequent establishment of the . Republicans in the Swiss cantons, supported by the French army, overthrew the central government in Bern and established the . Other factors contributed to the rising tensions. On his way to , had stopped at the heavily fortified port city of , the of . Grand Master , who ruled the island, would only allow two ships at a time into the harbour, in accordance with the island's neutrality. Bonaparte immediately ordered the bombardment of Valletta and on 11 June, General directed a of several thousand French troops at strategic locations around the island. The French Knights of the order deserted, and the remaining Knights failed to mount a successful resistance. Bonaparte forcibly removed the other Knights from their possessions, angering , who was the honorary head of the Order. The , furthermore, was convinced that the Austrians were conniving to start another war. Indeed, the weaker the French Republic seemed, the more seriously the Austrians, the Neapolitans, the Russians and the British actually discussed this possibility. Preliminaries to war Military planners in Paris understood that the Upper Rhine Valley, the south-western German territories, and Switzerland were strategically important for the defence of the Republic. The Swiss passes commanded access to northern Italy; consequently, the army that held those passes could move troops to and from northern and southern theatres quickly. Toward this end, in early November 1798, Jourdan arrived in to take command of the French forces there, the so-called Army of Observation because its function was to observe the security of the French border on the Rhine. Once there, he assessed the quality and disposition of the forces and identified needed supplies and manpower. He found the army woefully inadequate for its assignment. The , and its two flanking armies, the and the , or Mainz, were equally short of manpower, supplies, ammunition, and training; most resources were already directed to the Army in Northern Italy, and Army of Britain, and the Egyptian expedition. Jourdan documented assiduously these shortages, pointing out in lengthy correspondence to the Directory the consequences of an under-manned and under-supplied army; his petitions seemed to have little effect on the Directory, which sent neither significant additional manpower nor supplies. Jourdan's orders were to take the army into Germany and secure strategic positions, particularly on the south-west roads through and , at the western-most border of . Similarly, as commander of the Army of Helvetia (Switzerland), would acquire strategic positions in Switzerland, in particular the St. Gotthard Pass, the passes above , particularly Maienfeld (St. Luciensteig), and hold the central plateau in and around and . These positions would prevent the Allies of the from moving troops back and forth between the northern Italian and German theatres, but would allow French access to these strategic passes. Ultimately, this positioning would allow the French to control all western roads leading to and from Vienna. Finally, the army of Mayence would sweep through the north, blocking further access to and from Vienna from any of the northern Provinces, or from Britain. War The coalition first began to come together on 19 May 1798 when Austria and the Kingdom of Naples signed an alliance in Vienna. The first military action under the alliance occurred on November 29 when Austrian General occupied Rome and restored Papal authority with a Neapolitan army. By December 1, the Kingdom of Naples had signed alliances with both Russia and Great Britain. And by 2 January 1799, additional alliances were in place between Russia, Great Britain, and the Ottoman Empire. 1799 In Europe, the allies mounted several invasions, including and an of the . Russian general inflicted a series of defeats on the French in Italy, driving them back to the Alps. However, the allies were less successful in the Netherlands, where the British retreated after a defeat , and in Switzerland, where after initial victories a Russian army was completely routed at the . These reverses, as well as British insistence on searching shipping in the led to Russia withdrawing from the Coalition. Napoleon himself invaded Syria from Egypt, but after a failed he retreated to Egypt, repelling a British-Turkish invasion. Alerted to the political and military crisis in France, he returned, leaving his army behind, and used his popularity and army support to mount that made him , the head of the French government. 1800 at the }} Napoleon sent Moreau to campaign in Germany, and went himself to raise a new army at and march through Switzerland to attack the Austrian armies in Italy from behind. Narrowly avoiding defeat, he defeated the Austrians at and reoccupied northern Italy. Moreau meanwhile invaded and won a great battle against Austria at . Moreau continued toward Vienna and the Austrians sued for peace. 1801 Prior to the of July/August 1800, was a separate kingdom, with its own Parliament, held in a personal union with Great Britain under the Crown. In response to the 1798 revolt, it became part of , effective January 1 1800. The Austrians negotiated the , basically accepting the terms of the previous . In Egypt, the Ottomans and British invaded and finally compelled the French to surrender after the fall of and Alexandria. Britain continued the war at sea. A including Prussia, Russia, Denmark, and Sweden joined to protect neutral shipping from Britain's blockade, resulting in 's surprise attack on the Danish fleet in harbour at the . France and Spain invaded Portugal, in the , forcing Portugal to sign the . In December 1801, France despatched the to recapture the island, which had been independent since the 1791 . This included over 30,000 troops, many experienced and elite veterans but ended in catastrophic failure; by the end of 1802, an estimated 15,000 – 22,000 had died of disease and , among them Napoleon's brother-in-law, General . Aftermath In 1802, Britain and France signed the , ending the war. Thus began the longest period of peace during the period 1792–1815. The treaty is generally considered to be the most appropriate point to mark the transition between the French Revolutionary Wars and the , although Napoleon was not until 1804. References Category:Modern history